Simple and Sweet
by Niki Bogwater
Summary: A collection of oneshots about Link and Malon's relationship at various points in their lives.
1. Author's Note

**Author's Note:**

_Simple and Sweet _is the product of a long-standing obsession of mine. Malon and Link have stayed my favorite couple for at least seven years now, which is currently a substantial portion of my life. I wanted to do a series about them, not just because I love writing for them, but because I wanted to do a love story. A cute, sweet, slightly idealized love story that I could come back to when I needed cheering up. With so many people not really sure what love looks like nowadays, I wanted to put my take on it out there for the world to see, even if it's naive and not really built on any personal experience of my own. My take on this couple is mostly inspired by watching my parents and grandparents, the people who've taught me what love looks like since before I can even remember.

This little collection has been in the works for longer than I care to admit. I wanted to hold off on publishing any of these oneshots until I had completed a substantial number of them, but recently a fan of my work reached out and asked me about my scrapped Malink content, and I realized that just sitting on these stories when they were ready to go was kind of dumb. Bearing that in mind, I decided to go ahead and unleash what I had so far, with a warning to my readers that updates may be sporadic and these aren't being published in chronological order. Life is still happening beyond my keyboard, and sometimes I can go months without any creative inspiration. But if you're okay with that, go ahead and follow, leave a review, or a favorite. I can't promise that this will be the smoothest of rides, but maybe it'll be a fun one nonetheless.

Ciao!

-Niki Bogwater


	2. Starting Out on a Journey

**A/N: We're starting at the very beginning, with a little baby Malink to set the stage. Also for anyone who's wondering, "At the Beginning" from ****_Anastasia _****always makes me think of Malink, and it's where the title of this oneshot came from. Next oneshot should be coming next week.**

**Malon and Link are 10 years old in this one.**

* * *

The world was too big.

That was something Link was discovering all too quickly. Stepping beyond the cozy boundaries of the forest into a seemingly endless plain of swaying grass only occasionally broken up by a scrawny tree here and there had been a big shock. Crossing said plain had taken longer than he had ever imagined walking anywhere could take. Seeing the spires of Hyrule Castle for the first time sent an electric jolt down the center of his stomach that served as a sickening reminder that he was now in way over his head. And finally, crossing the moat and finding himself in a sea of color and noise and weirdest of all, _large human beings_, had solidified a single idea in his mind: he was not ready for this.

He had been so excited to meet Navi, to realize that he had a destiny beyond the forest where he grew up. His whole life (well, all ten years of it, anyways), all he had wanted was to escape, to find adventure far from the suffocatingly tight cluster of trees and deprecating stares of the forest children. He had always had a vague sense that he was meant for something different, something more.

But this was too much. First the death of the Great Deku Tree, the only father figure he could ever remember having, then his practical banishment from the forest, because there was no way he could show his face there again after failing to save the protector of the Kokiri, and now this sea of unnatural color, jabbing elbows, loud calls from behind crowded market stands, and the headache-inducing buzz of endless chatter. Link wanted out. He wanted to go home.

Disoriented and half-deaf from the marketplace cacophony, he elbowed his way through a particularly tight cluster of eager shoppers, stumbled over a little dog who snapped angrily at his heels, and practically crawled over to the nearest recognizable sound he could find. There was a large fountain in the center of town, cascading and bubbling not unlike the forest streams he used to wade in back home, and he zeroed in on this sound like a Keese on the scent of blood. He sat down on the edge of it, clutching himself and breathing hard, praying he wouldn't burst into tears in front of all these strange new people. He let the sound of water fill his ears and screwed his eyes shut, trying to picture a woodland stream, but still only able to see the bright and otherworldly colors of Castletown. Navi nudged his shoulder consolingly, but he had never felt so alone before in his life.

"Hey!" Link jumped and found his eyes flying back open in spite of himself, as a voice made itself known very close to him. There was a small human just his size standing very close to him, her large blue eyes sweeping up and down his hunched figure with curiosity. She had very long hair, longer than any of the Kokiri ever had, and it was a deep shade of crimson. Link was suddenly reminded of the wild apple orchard that grew in a secret grove of the Lost Woods, and felt a surge of comfort rise up in his chest for a moment. He straighted up and frantically scrubbed his cheek, trying to look stoic. The girl didn't seem to notice this, as she continued to stare at him for a long moment before speaking again. "Your clothes...They're different." Her eyes landed on Navi and grew even wider. "Ohh...You're a fairy boy from the forest!" She grinned in delight at this discovery, sparkling eyes darting between his face and the fairy on his shoulder. "My name is Malon! My dad owns Lon Lon Ranch!" Link opened his mouth to ask what a Lon Lon Ranch was, thought better of it just in time, and shut it again. Malon gazed at him expectantly, and he felt Navi tug on his ear.

"Introduce yourself," she suggested in a whisper. Right. The Great Deku tree had taught him how to do this once, a long time ago. He cleared his throat and spoke so quietly that Malon had to lean uncomfortably close to him to hear.

"My name is Link." He wanted to stop there, but Navi prodded him encouragingly. "I...I'm looking for the princess."

"Really?" Malon responded, not a trace of skepticism in her musical voice. "Well, you won't find her here. She lives in Hyrule Castle. It's up the main road, this way." She pointed to a large avenue stretching out north from the center of town. "Are you a prince?" she asked eagerly.

"I...I don't think so," he answered, not quite sure what a prince was. "I'm on a mission," he added, hoping that would clear things up.

"Oh, so you're like a knight then!" Malon surmised, her eyes growing big and looking interested again. "Is that why you carry a sword and a shield?"

"Er...I think so." Something in Link told him that he should not answer that truthfully. The only reason he kept a sword and a shield was because the world was becoming more dangerous, and an awful lot of things had already tried to kill him just in the last two days. But Malon looked as though she didn't know that, and he felt a strange desire to keep it that way.

"That's so cool!" Malon exclaimed in awe. Link felt heat creep up the back of his neck and idly wondered if he was getting sick. "I've always wanted to meet a knight," she added a little shyly. There was an awkward pause, during which she tugged nervously at a lock of fiery hair. "Hey, so...You want me to show you where the castle is?" Link felt such a surge of relief at her question that he couldn't speak for a moment. Navi came to his rescue.

"That would be great! Thank you," she chirped, bobbing up and down. Malon nodded, eyes sparkling like little ponds in the sunshine as she watched Navi fluttering around her.

"Come on," Malon said, reaching out and grabbing Link's wrist, tugging him along behind her. She was a lot better at maneuvering around the marketplace than he was, ducking between crowds of grown-ups, dodging a loose Cucco that was making a frantic escape from its owner, and leading him away from the bombardment of color and sound that had so incapacitated him. Link was suddenly reminded of the many times Saria used to take his hand and lead him through the maze of trees in the Lost Woods, her feet steady on uneven ground and her internal compass unshaken by the swirling mist and confusing shadows. He felt an odd swelling in his chest, not entirely unpleasant, but definitely unfamiliar.

The castle was set back from the main town quite a ways, so that they soon left the buildings behind and emerged onto a quiet road through a well-kept park. Link expected Malon to lead him straight up to the front gate, but she turned off to the side near a bend in the road, out of sight of the guard, and pointed to a thick growth of ivy snaking down the side of a rocky ledge.

"They won't let kids in through the gate," she explained, letting go of his wrist and leaving it feeling oddly warm. "So you'll have to climb this and sneak around. Oh, by the way..." She looked at him shyly, twirling her hair again. "My dad went into the castle to deliver milk a long time ago, and he hasn't come back. Since you're a knight and everything...Do you think you could find him for me? I think he just fell asleep somewhere." She huffed derisively and put her hands on her hips. "What a thing for an adult to do!"

"How long has he been gone?" Navi asked sympathetically.

"I don't know, a long time," Malon answered with a shrug. "It was still dark when we got to the market this morning."

"You've been alone that long?" Link asked suddenly. The sun was well past its zenith now, and it would likely be dark again before too long. Malon looked a little startled that he had spoken up, but seemed pleased.

"Well, yeah. But don't worry! I can take care of myself. I'm not old enough to cross Hyrule Field by myself, though, so I can't go home without him." Link felt an odd squeeze in his stomach. He knew how it felt to be alone in a crowd of people. And though he didn't know her very well, he didn't like the idea of Malon knowing how it felt too.

"I'll find him," he promised. Malon looked as though he'd offered her the moon, her eyes all big and sparkly again.

"Great! Here, take this with you." She pulled a large egg out of her pocket and handed it to him. "I've been incubating that for a long time, now. It should be ready to hatch soon. That'll help you wake up my dad." Link carefully took the egg from her and stashed it in his own pocket. Malon was still staring at him with her impossibly blue eyes, as though he was the most fascinating creature she'd ever seen. Heat rushed up the back of his neck again, and Link quickly moved to start climbing up the small cliff face. Navi yanked on a lock of his hair though, and stopped him.

"Say, 'thank you,'" she instructed him. "And 'goodbye.'"

"Er...Thank you for your help, my lady," Link said, giving a stiff bow. Navi patted him encouragingly on the shoulder, but when he looked up, Malon was giving him a very funny look.

"Um...What?" she asked, as though she hadn't heard him.

"I said thank you."

"Yeah, but...what did you call me after that?" The heat moved from Link's neck to his cheeks.

"...He called you 'my lady,'" Navi put in, noticing the sweat starting to bead on his forehead. "Hasn't anybody ever called you that before?"

"N-no..." Malon stuttered, suddenly looking uncomfortable. "I mean, I've heard people used to talk like that a long time ago. But nowadays only the princess gets called 'my lady.'"

"Oh..." Navi said awkwardly. "I guess things are different in the forest." She glanced at Link, who looked like he wanted nothing more than to disappear into a crack in the ground at their feet.

"But that's okay!" Malon piped up suddenly. "I...I like it. You could keep doing it for me...if you want..." She twirled a lock of her hair more furiously than ever. Link still looked very red. Navi nudged his shoulder again.

"A-all right," he mumbled shyly. "G-goodbye." He rushed to grip the vines and haul himself up before Navi could make him say anything else.

"See you later, Fairy Boy!" Malon called.

Yes, the world was very big, Link realized, not just that day but on many occasions afterwards. It was big, and it was confusing. But, he found himself thinking as he clambered over the top of the main gate and dropped stealthily into the park behind it, if it was filled with people like Malon, maybe he could learn to get used to it.


	3. Betrothed

**A/N: Stand back. *dumps out load of fluff* **

**Honestly, not as happy with this one as I was with the first, but this one is actually older than the first one by quite a bit. I've never been able to find away to reach that "sweet spot," as it were, and be completely satisfied with it, but I did promise an update this week, and I don't see much chance of this getting a full re-write any time in the near future. That being said, if you're here for pointless fluff, this should cover you until next time. **

**Link and Malon are not quite yet 22. Contrary to what Link thinks at the beginning of the chapter, I'm fairly certain this is not actually the crowning point of adulthood, and I would generally advise one not to get married at this tender age, what with our society being what it is nowadays. But this is Hyrule, and society is probably less complex there, and it felt weird to have them wait any longer.**

* * *

Link was terrified.

All the battles he had fought, all the monsters he had slain, even Ganondorf himself-they all paled in comparison to what he was about to face. Yet a strange sense of elation floated in his chest, and though his stomach churned like he was about to be sick, he was also more determined to see this through than anything he had encountered before. He shifted his weight from one foot to another and fiddled with his empty hands. If only he could stop this blasted _trembling._

He was almost twenty-two now. He was as grown up as he could possibly get. It was finally time. He had been looking forward to this day for years now. He knew exactly what he would say, how he would say it, and to a certain extent, even what the answer would be. So why was he still standing outside the farmhouse wringing his hands like he was approaching the executioner's block?

_He could still say no, _an irritating voice whispered in his head. _He could destroy everything with just one word. _

_Why would he say no? _Link countered. _He once offered without me even asking._

_That was a different time._

_He's still the same person. _

_He could still say no._

_He won't._

_He could._

"Shut _up..._" he moaned, clutching his bangs in frustration.

"Hey, are you okay?" He jumped and spun around, his hand instinctively moving towards his sheath. Malon was standing behind him, a basket of eggs in her arms, eyeing him with concern and a little surprise. He let out a shaky breath and lowered his hand. Farore have mercy, he was jumpier than a Tectite right now.

"Y-yeah," he fumbled, trying to offer her a smile. "Just thinking." She pursed her lips and regarded him with a quirked eyebrow. He prayed to Nayru she would just let it go.

"You sure about that?" Nayru never listened to him, he thought with an inward groan.

"Positive, my lady." He swooped in and kissed her cheek in a rare show of spontaneity. It had the desired effect. She was so surprised she did not question him further, but she did give him one of her sweetest smiles as he quickly made his escape.

"Good luck, Fairy Boy," she said cryptically just as the door was swinging shut. It closed with a _click _before he had a chance to respond. He stood frozen in the doorway for a moment, wondering if she had figured out exactly what was going on. It would not surprise him. She was incredibly astute.

He forced himself to cross the floor and enter the kitchen, where Talon was sitting at the table jotting down figures on a sheet of paper. There was a good yield that season, and with many of the horses beginning to foal, the ranch was in for an economic spike come harvest time. Link had specifically chosen this time to ask, because he knew nothing put Talon in a better mood than the prospect of incoming profits. He cleared his throat to get the rancher's attention, and felt his neck break into a cold sweat as Talon's eyes rested on him.

"Ah, Link!" he bellowed good-naturedly. "Come in, boy, and take a seat!"

"I...think I'd better stand, thank you," Link mumbled, clenching his hands behind his back. "There's...s-something I need to ask you." Talon raised an eyebrow quizzically, but he did put his elbows on the table and leaned forward attentively. Link swallowed a few times and fiddled with his hands, which were still clasped behind his back. "It's about Malon," he ventured at length.

"What about her?"

"I...I really love her, sir." He licked his dry lips nervously. "I would like to marry her." There was an awkward pause. Talon gave no indication that he had heard the question, other than raising his other eyebrow. "W-with your permission, of course!" Link blurted. He took a deep breath and ordered himself to calm down again. "I know...that I don't have anything to my name. I know I'm not the richest or most powerful man in the world, but..." He trailed off for a moment and swallowed again. This was it. His entire case rested on the following words alone. If they were not enough to convince Talon, he was doomed. "...I love her more than anything, and I can promise that I will take care of her until the end of my days."

Talon's gaze roved over him for a moment, examining him like a show pony at the harvest festival. Then he let out a sigh and brought a large hand up to rub the back of his neck.

"Golly, I sure am sorry, son," he began, and Link felt the foundations of his entire world begin to crumble. "But I've already promised her to Ingo."

"..._What?_" Link's voice was very flat and just a little bit dangerous. Fortunately, Talon just threw his head back and let out a hearty laugh.

"Naw, I'm just messin' with ya, boy!" he guffawed. "'Course ya can marry her! 'Bout time ya asked, too." He rose from his chair, marched over to him, and gave him a heavy clap on the shoulder. "Yer a fine lad, Link. Finer than any other I know. Truth is, I always wanted ya to marry Malon. A father can't ask for more than to see his little girl married to a man who really loves her. An' I know you'll take care of her." He smiled proudly and patted his shoulder a little more gently. "Ya always have."

Link could have wept with relief. He let out a breath he had not realized he was holding and stammered out his thanks about as eloquently as a gasping fish. He was still trembling all over, and his legs felt like they were full of water, but he could not recall another time when he felt so elated. Talon gave him no time to recover, however, and he was swiftly shoved out of the house with a short order to "Go get her, _now_." Looking back on it later, Link realized that it was probably for the best that he was forced to act quickly, as if he had waited any longer to do it his nerves might have caught up with him again.

Theoretically, actually proposing to her should have been the hardest part. But after the scare Talon had given him, Link was too wrapped up in relief and euphoria to be very nervous anymore. Besides, all he had to do was look at her, blooming like a wildflower in the rosy light of dusk as she hummed her mother's song, and suddenly he was more certain than ever that she was his future. The inner voice from before tried reminding him that it was still within the realm of possibility for her to decline, but something about the way she smiled when she saw him cross the field and enter the corral silenced his doubts.

They often spent their evenings together in the corral. During work hours, they had no time for more than a few brief glances and the occasional brushing of hands as they passed each other. But after the chores were done and the horses put in their stables, they always met out in the middle of the corral, just like when they were kids, and took as much time as they wanted to say everything they could not during the day. Sometimes, they did not need to say anything, and instead sat shoulder-to-shoulder gazing up at the heavens above and reveling in each other's silent company. Those were Link's favorite times.

When he reached her, she slid her arms around his neck and placed a gentle kiss on his lips, effectively dispelling any remaining nervousness he might have had. Goddesses, he would level Death Mountain itself for this woman. Asking her to marry him was comparatively easy. She pulled back and stood with her hands still cradling his face and a contented smile on hers. For a brief moment, he was lost in her ocean-like eyes, and nearly forgot what he had come for as he drank in the sight of her. But he managed to collect himself after a minute or so, and took a step back to clasp her hands in his.

"There's something I need to ask you," he began quietly, gazing shyly at their joined hands as he absentmindedly brushed his thumb across her knuckles.

"Oh? Fire away, then, Fairy Boy." The corner of his mouth turned up at the sound of his old nickname, and he took a deep breath before meeting her eyes and speaking again.

"I...I can't imagine my life without you in it..." There was a pause. "...A-and I want to be with you forever." Another pause. Malon's eyes widened and she gripped his hands a bit tighter. "So..." Slowly, without breaking eye contact, he got down on one knee, albeit a bit clumsily, and in a timid, but still hopeful voice, asked, "Will you marry me?"

"_Yes!_" she sobbed, almost before he had even finished the question. She let go of his hands, grabbed his shirt collar, hauled him to his feet, and kissed him again, much firmer and more excitedly than previously. She pulled away quickly and breathlessly whispered, "Yes, yes, _yes, _a thousand times!" Then she kissed him a third time, and a fourth, and perhaps a fifth. He lost count as his mind dissolved into blissful fog. Perhaps his proposal was not very eloquent or well-thought-out, but the important thing was that she had accepted it anyways. And now, he suddenly found himself with everything he'd ever wanted.

Malon buried her face in his shoulder and continued to weep happily for longer than he had expected. He held her close to him and stroked her hair gently. He looked up at the stars, a silly grin stuck on his face, and thought of that day so long ago, when he met Navi and was told that he must set off on a quest to save Hyrule. Back then, all he wanted was to get away, to explore, to be a hero. What would he have thought, he wondered, if someone had told him that everything he could ever want would be right here, on an old dairy farm, with the girl who called him Fairy Boy; that at the end of his quest, he would return, not to a cheering crowd who hailed him as their savior, but to a quiet ranch, and to the simple peasant girl who loved him just for who he was? He could never have imagined that his life would someday end up at this point, with the future bright before him, and the pain of the past a distant memory. It seemed the goddesses knew better than he what he really needed. And as he held his future in his arms and wondered if she would ever stop crying, he sent them his shortest and most heartfelt prayer yet:

_Thank you._


	4. Darling Dearest

**A/N: You know what's better than pointless fluff? Pointless _domestic _fluff. Granted, this one has a bit more direction and plot than last time, but at the end of the day this is yet another purely self-indulgent story. The pacing of this one feels wonky to me, but I couldn't find a way to fix that, so feel free to leave suggestions for improvement in the comments.**

**Link and Malon are 23 now. I also just realized that in spite of my earlier warning, so far, all of my oneshots have been in chronological order. Don't get used to that, because I plan on breaking formation soon.**

* * *

Malon was an authority on pet names. She used them even more than proper names. She had spent her whole life sweet-talking her animals, with terms of endearment like _Honey, Sweetie, Sugar, _and the like. When Link started courting her, the habit made a natural transition from her farm animals to her betrothed. He had to get used to answering to _Darling, Sweetheart, _and, when Malon was particularly cross with him, a sternly enunciated _Love of My Life_. But the habit of using pet names was firmly one-sided. Aside from the occasional, but still affectionate _My Lady, _Link was only comfortable using Malon's given name.

Until a strange day about a year after their wedding.

Malon was standing over a pot of stew, humming and swaying, one hand propped on her swollen hip as she gently stirred the contents of the pot with a wooden spoon. At six months along, the baby was really starting to show, and she had to shift her weight from one foot to the other to keep from getting tired. Link was at the kitchen table, adding up some figures from that morning's milk delivery. Malon had almost forgotten he was there until he spoke up suddenly.

"Do you want me to do that, Honey?"

Malon froze, hand still on the spoon, and looked over at him with an odd expression.

"What?"

"I asked if you wanted me to do that," Link repeated, nodding at the stewpot. "You look like you need to sit down."

"Oh... Oh! N-no, I'm fine, thanks, Sweetie." She went back to vigorously stirring, thinking she had misheard him. Link just wasn't the type to use pet names. It went against his nature of saving words until he absolutely needed them. Beyond that, he just was not comfortable showing affection in ways that outside observers could easily interpret. He had an entire system of seemingly mundane gestures that meant everything from _You're beautiful, _to _I'm worried about you, _but he almost never spoke words of sentiment out loud, especially not in a place as public as their kitchen, where either Talon or Ingo could wander in at any given moment. She decided to forget about it, in spite of the feeling of her heart melting in her chest, and didn't say anything about it.

For a week, nothing else happened out of the ordinary. Malon tried her best to forget about the _Honey Incident_, as she had taken to calling it in her mind, chalking it up to either a fluke or just a misunderstanding. She admitted to herself it was nice to hear, even just once. Strange, coming from Link, but still nice. But she had more important things to worry about. Pregnant as she was, she was forbidden from doing any intensive labor around the animals, but that didn't mean there weren't deliveries to be planned, Rupees to be exchanged, and baby blankets to knit. She stayed as busy as ever, and actually managed to put the strange occurrence out of her mind for a time.

Then it happened again.

"You should come to bed, Sweetheart."

Malon froze, fingers going stiff on her knitting needles. It was late, well past bedtime, but she had all but promised herself she would finish this blanket tonight. She had been so absorbed in her work, she had not noticed Link was in the room until he was directly behind her chair.

"Malon?" Link put a hand on her shoulder. "Are you alright?"

"Yes!" she squeaked, dropping her knitting as though it had burned her, suddenly flustered again. "Er...Yes, I-I'm fine. And you're right. I guess it is pretty late." She set her work on the side table and heaved a massive grunt as she struggled to get out of her chair. Link came around in front of her and hauled her up, just a hint of an amused gleam in his eyes. "Oh, shut up," Malon grumbled, swatting his hands away as soon as she was on her own feet.

"I didn't say anything," he replied cheekily. Hadn't he, though? Once could have been a fluke, but twice seemed unlikely. And she had heard it very clearly this time, there was no mistaking what he had called her. She stalked upstairs to bed wishing she could quell the girlish butterflies fluttering around in her stomach. Once again, she did not say anything to draw his attention to it. Perhaps he did not even realize he was doing it, and maybe he would stop if she brought it up. As strange as it was to hear terms of endearment coming from Link of all people, it was also very nice, and she was not sure she wanted it to stop any time soon.

It did not stop. It happened again. And again. And again. _Honey, Darling, Sweetheart, Dear, _they were all becoming more common as time passed. It was almost making her frantic. At first, it was only when they were alone together, but even then, it sent a strange new thrill down the center of Malon's heart whenever it happened. She wondered if she was losing her mind, or maybe the baby was making her feel this way. Either way, it was still just as strange as ever. And Link still never seemed to notice, no matter how badly he startled her. It was a bit unfair, really. It used to be that she was the one who always got him flustered. Now all he had to do was evoke words that were commonplace in any other household and suddenly she was like butter in his hands. Was he doing this on purpose? That seemed very unlike him, but then again, this whole thing was very unlike him. A month passed, and soon he was even letting the little names slip out in front of her father.

The irony of the situation was not completely lost on her. She doubted there was another woman in the world who was this worked up about her husband using a pet name or two. But this was Link, and pet names had always been _her _thing. As warm and fuzzy as she felt when she had heard them, this was just too out of character for him. She even entertained the thought that maybe he was cursed, under some kind of magical influence, though that did not last very long. Link was far too smart to get himself cursed. Besides, in every other aspect, he was completely normal. That left only one other explanation.

Link must have changed.

She was surprised at how much the thought scared her when it first occurred to her. This was not anything life-changing, or even unpleasant. In fact, she hoped to Nayru he never stopped, because now she was getting used to it and would really hate it if he did. But the idea that the Link of today was different from the Link she married was a jarring one. What would she do if he ever changed in a really big way? Then a doubly horrifying thought occurred to her, as she was in the middle of cleaning the lunch dishes one afternoon. What if _she _changed too much, and lost what made him love her? Her hands froze for a moment, and she found herself staring unseeing into the bottom of the sink.

"You alright, Dear?"

Malon started and looked up. Link was beside her, glancing curiously between her still hands and her face. The late afternoon sun flowed through an open window nearby and made his golden hair shine as though it had just been burnished. She had not even noticed when he came in.

"Yes... Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask?" she inquired, looking back down at her dishes.

"You've been scrubbing that plate for the past ten minutes," he informed her, taking the offending article from her sudsy hands and gently shooing her to the side as he rinsed it under the faucet.

"Well, I was just thinking," she replied, taking up a towel to dry the plate when he handed it to her. Link hummed noncommittally in response. She knew he wanted to know what had her so preoccupied, otherwise he would not have asked, but he was also giving her enough space to keep it to herself, if she wanted. Was it possible that he could one day lose that understanding and sensitivity? Was it possible that she would lose the ease with which she always told him what was on her mind? "What would you think..." she said slowly, running the towel across the plate again even though it was dry now. "...if I...if I stopped calling you Fairy Boy?" He looked up abruptly from the mug he had been scrubbing and gave her a queer look. He had not been expecting that. "Well?" she prodded, towel now hanging limp in her hand. "How would you feel?"

"Are you...wanting to call me something else, or...?"

"Just answer the question, Link," Malon cut him off with an amused smile. "What would you think?" Link looked back down at the mug and resumed scrubbing, thinking for a moment.

"I suppose I'd wonder if you were mad at me," he answered honestly. She must have looked offended, because he hurried to rectify the statement. "I mean, if I thought anything of it at all! I'm not the most observant person when it comes to these things, and..." Malon still looked offended. He quickly decided to change the direction of the conversation before he dug himself into an even deeper hole."Wh-why are you asking?" The pump above the faucet squeaked as he pushed it down with more force than was necessary.

"Oh, I don't know," Malon sighed, rubbing the twice dry plate yet again. "I was just thinking about us, and about people, and I thought, people can change, you know?" Link's hands froze on the mug he was rinsing, and Malon saw his eyes dart nervously in her direction for a split second. "Stop worrying, I still love you," she told him, finally setting down the plate and taking the mug. "But...we're not going to be the same people in twenty years, are we?" She glanced down at her hands, suddenly shy for some reason. "We'll probably be really different. And I guess...Well, I guess I was wondering if things between us would look different, too."

"Oh," Link replied, looking only slightly less nervous. Things were quiet between them for a few minutes afterwards, and Malon started to wonder if he had anything to say at all. Finally, he handed her the last dish to be dried, and met her gaze with his own. "Would it really matter?" he asked quietly. "Even if things looked different, we'd still love each other, right? We...We promised we would, after all. And even if we're totally new people in twenty years, I don't..." He paused, and the tips of his ears turned pink. "...I really don't think I could stop loving you."

Malon dueled valiantly with the sudden urge to kiss him senseless for a little while, but ultimately lost the fight. Tossing the towel and the only half-dried bowl onto the counter, she grabbed his face with her damp hands and did just that. He was visibly discombobulated when she let him go a minute later, though certainly not displeased. He looked at her with an expression of confused amazement that she remembered witnessing the first time he had ever seen a horse as a child. Years later, that expression was still the same.

"I guess important things don't change as easily, do they?" she murmured.

"...What?" Link mumbled stupidly, still breathless and distracted.

"Nevermind," Malon laughed, pushing him back teasingly. She snatched up the bowl and towel again, enjoying the heat welling up in her cheeks and heart. "You know, you've been awful sweet to me lately," she told him lightly, watching him out of the corner of her eye.

"I have?"

"Yes," she replied matter-of-factly. "It's been quite odd." She paused, waiting for his reaction. He continued to look confused. So he really had not been doing it on purpose. That was so like her Fairy Boy not to notice something like that. She felt a surge of affection rise up again, along with a hint of fond exasperation.

"Do...Do you want me to stop, or...?"

"No. I like it." She set down the bowl again, and turned to face him. "It's a change I can get used to..." She rose up on her toes and planted another kiss on his cheek. "...Darling."

And with no further explanation, she swept out of the room to return to her knitting, leaving her husband to wonder if she was still going to be this maddeningly cryptic twenty years from now.


End file.
